Ministers

_#_Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament consists of
an upper house or National Council and a lower house or House of
Representatives

_#_Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Sarbochha Adalat)

_#_Leaders:

Chief of State--King BIRENDRA Bir Bikram Shah Dev (since 31 January
1972, crowned King 24 February 1985); Heir Apparent Crown Prince DIPENDRA
Bir Bikram Shah Dev, son of the King (born 21 June 1971);

Head of Government--Prime Minister Girija Prasad KOIRALA (since
29 May 1991)

_#_Political parties and leaders:

ruling party--Nepali Congress Party (NCP), Girija Prasad KOIRALA,
Ganesh Man SINGH, Krishna Prasad BHATTARAI;

center--the NDP has two factions: National Democratic
Party/Chand (NDP/Chand), Lokinra Bahadur CHAND, and
National Democratic Party/Thapa (NDP/Thapa), Surya Bahadur THAPA;
Terai Rights Sadbhavana (Goodwill) Party, G. N. Naryan SINGH;

Communist--Communist Party of Nepal/United Marxist and
Leninist (CPN/UML), Man Mohan ADIKHARY;
United People's Front (UPF), N. K. PRASAI;
Rohit Party, N. M. BIJUKCHHE;
Democratic Party, leader NA

_#_Suffrage: universal at age 18

_#_Elections:

House of Representatives--last held on 12 May 1991 (next to be
held May 1996);
results--NCP 38%, CPN/UML 28%, NDP/Chand 6%, UPF 5%, NDP/Thapa
5%, Terai Rights Sadbhavana Party 4%, Rohit 2%, CPN (Democratic) 1%,
independent 4%, other 7%;
seats--(205 total) NCP 110, CPN/UML 69, UPF 9, Terai Rights
Sadbhavana Party 6, NDP/Chand 3, Rohit 2, CPN (Democratic) 2,
NDP/Thapa 1, independent 3;

note--the new Constitution of 9 November 1990 gives Nepal a multiparty
democracy system for the first time in 32 years

_#_Communists: Communist Party of Nepal (CPN)

_#_Other political or pressure groups: numerous small, left-leaning
student groups in the capital; several small, radical Nepalese
antimonarchist groups

_#_Member of: AsDB, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA,
IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, NAM,
SAARC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UPU, WHO, WMO, WTO

_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Mohan Man SAINJU; Chancery at
2131 Leroy Place NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 667-4550; there
is a Nepalese Consulate General in New York;

US--Ambassador Julia Chang BLOCH; Embassy at Pani Pokhari,
Kathmandu; telephone [977] (1) 411179 or 412718, 411601, 411613, 413890

_#_Flag: red with a blue border around the unique shape of two